Sprinkled With Stardust

They've shared the spotlight with George Clooney, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz.

They've endured all-night shoots at the Miami Cultural Center and the Biltmore Hotel, nibbling on caviar and chocolate truffles into the wee hours.

And they've shivered in SoBe during a cold wave along with Harrison Ford, who donned a ski jacket between takes.

Not a bad avocation for retired Aventura couple Jack Brown, 72, and his wife, Maxine, 73.

It all started in 1997, when a friend asked Jack Brown for a ride to see his agent. Since then, the couple have been working as extras in films, TV shows and commercials shot in South Florida.

But the Browns are neither snowed by show biz nor dazzled by rubbing shoulders with the stars. "We like it because we're retired and we don't have to work every day," said Maxine Brown, a former businesswoman. "As a matter of fact, opportunities are erratic. And if we're busy, we can always turn a part down."

"Plus, it gives us something to talk about besides hospitals and doctors," Jack Brown quipped.

It also gives the Browns a little pocket money. For non-speaking parts, they earn $65 a day, which can range from four to 10 hours. After that, overtime kicks in at $6.50 an hour. Some of their assignments lasted all night, as picky directors extended shooting until dawn.

One such shoot was at the Orange Bowl for Oliver Stone's On Any Given Sunday, a pro-football saga due out this fall with Al Pacino, Dennis Quaid, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz. The Browns huddled all night in the stands with thousands of other extras.After a few films, agents began to recruit the Browns for commercials.

"Commercials pay more," Maxine Brown said. "The minimum is $75 but it can get up to $4,000 for speaking parts, which we've never done. The most we ever made was $150 each."

The Browns are part of a trend. Florida ranks third in the country for on-location shoots for the movie and entertainment industry, and more and more South Florida seniors are tapping into the fun and profit of working as extras.

Sal DiMartino of the Gold Coast Talent Agency in West Palm Beach says more than 25 percent of his extras clients are seniors. "They've gotten very busy here in South Florida," he says. "They go back to their retirement communities and recruit others."

If a senior client requests no all-night shoots or all-day sessions under a broiling sun, the talent agency is happy to comply, he said. "Seniors are some of our most reliable clients and they tend not to cause problems on the set."

Since 1997, the Browns have appeared in five feature films, three TV shows, a few soap operas made in English with Spanish subtitles, and a smattering of commercials. Their credits include Out of Sight in 1998, with Samuel L. Jackson, George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez; Holy Man in 1998, with Eddie Murphy and Jeff Goldblum; There's Something About Mary also in 1998, starring Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller and Cameron Diaz; and Random Hearts, with Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas, due out this fall.

The hours are long and at first it was tedious, Jack Brown said. But the couple soon struck up friendships with other regulars. "I play gin with one fellow between shoots," Jack Brown said

There are also inconveniences.

For the sake of continuity between scenes, the Browns have worn the same clothes for four days in a row. During the shooting of Random Hearts one windswept night last winter, Maxine Brown was standing in front of an Ocean Drive restaurant on South Beach with her shirt collar up to ward off the frigid sea breeze.

"We were all wearing summer clothes. The younger extras were in shorts," she said.

The wardrobe lady cornered her: "Was your collar up yesterday?" Maxine assured her that it was.

"Are you sure?" the woman insisted.

"Harrison Ford was hysterical," Maxine recalled. "Ford said, `They're very strict, aren't they?' And I answered, `When you're in the scene they're going to be looking at you, not at me."

But despite the long hours and inconveniences, there are perks. Like the food. Every morning, caterers spread lavish breakfast buffets that feature freshly baked pastries and cakes.

In There's Something About Mary, the crew set up a party scene at The Cultural Center plaza in Miami. Five buffet tables were loaded with caviar, shrimp, smoked salmon and sweets.

"The extras were supposed to eat while the cameras were rolling," Maxine Brown said. "And they kept eating when the cameras stopped," chuckled Jack Brown.

"The food must have cost thousands," Jack Brown said. "And we were there all night till 4 in the morning."

But the best perk by far is the delighted response of the Browns' biggest fans -- their family.

Maxine Brown's mother, Beatrice Harrison, 95, tells her neighbors in Hollywood, "George Clooney was in a movie with my son-in-law!"

And their son and two grandchildren in Long Island, N.Y. make excited phone calls after every sighting.